I recently edited a short video for Mrs. McLaughlin in 5th grade. 5th grade teachers must all make a movie with their classrooms to meet their CIP (continuous improvement plan). For some this was a first. I asked Mrs. McLaughlin to share with us about what she learned from this experience.

This movie was shot as one part of a fifth-grade-wide project for rising fifth graders. Our grade-level team decided to film short movies to show the present fourth -graders some of the things that they can expect to learn and do when in the fifth grade. The other fifth-grade language arts classes will cover other aspects of fifth grade. Our topic was science.
My class spent three language arts periods producing this movie. Two days were spent planning and writing, and one day was spent filming this short movie. Students brain-stormed topics, wrote the short scripts, made or brought in all props, and starred in the movie.

The students learned to take a large topic, "What I learned in 5th Grade Science", and break it into main ideas and supportive details. They used all aspects of language- writing, speaking, listening, reading, and non-verbal communication with acting and props.
I learned a little more of the mechanics of a digital movie camera, that the students really did enjoy and remember many "big ideas" of our science curriculum, and that fifth-graders love to perform!

I would suggest to other teachers regarding in-house videos to pack an extra dosage of patience on filming days. Students may get excited and enthusiastic which can sometimes slow down the filming process, but it also makes it fun! I would love to make more movies, because the children really love it and are actively engaged in the project. I need to learn a whole lot more of the camera operations and editing process.

I filmed the entire movie. I felt a huge responsibility for the camera itself and was hesitant to put it into a student's hands. If it is allowed, I'd love to see what a creative student could do in a future project.

Kindergarten students tranform a Muskogee Indian folk tale into a play by writing their own lines. Ms. Shields transforms the classroom, Mrs. Foresman plays opossum and Tiffany, the cardinal helps with costume changes! This lesson was used to reinforce sequencing skills, story telling, paraphrasing, character development, setting, script writing and performing. Students also created several songs on this theme although only one was used in the making of this movie, "Wings are Better" sung to the tune of Sarasponda. This version is a draft. Final will replace version will be posted by 3-23.

The background music is a preview of Once Upon a Time by Curandero and can be found and purchased using www.magnatunes.com

Fourth year Spanish students from Alpharetta High School visited CVES to share their stories. Each pair of students read and translated stories they authored in Spanish. The books were beautifully illustrated and well written. After the story the students asked students if they would like to learn some new words in Spanish and wrote them on the board. Students also learned the familiar Days of the Week song, in Spanish! Thank you AHS for being such a great neighbor.
PS There is one word translated incorrectly, can you find it?

The men of Creek View hosted the 3rd annual Ladies Valentines Day breakfast. The PTA provides support so the teachers can gather in the Media Center for an hour of entertainment and good food. 'Young Elvis" Harold Schultz has been making the ladies swoon for each year. This year he was joined by a live band, the Blue Suedes! Imagine your entire faculty dancing including your principal and the CST.
www.bluesuedeent.com

The annual CVES talent show gives the staff a chance to shake their groove thang for the school! Under the direction of former Auburn cheerleader and Curriculum Specialist extraordinaire, Josette Perez, teachers, staff and our head custodian all joined forces to produce this hillarious dance number. You Tube may need to be notified for this one. This is a must download because you'll want to watch, listen and dance with your video ipods.

Glimpse some of our local talent in this brief sampler of performances. 5th grade students and the 4th and 4th grade show choir participated in this annual event produced and directed by 5th grade teacher Eric Bragg.

Two of Ms. Shields reading groups observe and record descriptions of their chosen animals. Here you can listen to the descriptions and pause after each one to let your students guess the name of the animal. Hint, there is one repeated animal in the group! Use this link to print a worksheet to record student answers. http://www.fultonschools.org/school/creekview/pdf/animalworksheet.pdf
Have fun!

On February 1, 2007 Creek View welcomed a teacher delegation from the UK. In addition to the UK teachers, Fulton County CIO, Katie Lovett was present as was Cassandra P. Herring from the Policy Director of the GA Department of Education. Dr. Herring has been involved in a learning partnership exchange with the UK. Our guests came to view educational technology integration in action. The visited grades, K, 2, 3 and 4. Several 5th grade students wrote and produced an welcome segment which was broadcast school wide. This movie was recorded during the broadcast. The UK delegates enthusiastically endorsed a wonderful on-line project resource, www.globalgateway.org. It enables teachers to form collaborative relationships worldwide.

This is the first project in a series of collaborative efforts to join two kindergarten classes. We are from Georgia and the other class is from Texas. The students are excited about getting to know each other. My students created self portraits and photgraphed them with my help using our classroom digital camera. Next they recorded their messages on my laptop. I used Adobe Premiere to assemble the project. The audio was edited using Audacity.

Tiffany is our classroom Peer Facilitator. She regularly visits our classroom as part of her senior curriculum. Each semester she has an opportunity to deliver one lesson. In this episode, Tiffany demonstrated her mastery of the Promethean board as a teaching too. In order to prepare for the lesson she researched available pattern lessons from the Promethean resources on-line. She downloaded several and selected two. She made some minor modifications to accommodate our students. Next she prepared an outline with estimated time for each section of the lesson. Mrs. Foresman and I participated as her assistants. When the small group activities commenced, we each worked with our own tables. Tiffany has natural teaching ability. The children love her too!

Each year Mrs. Grabel joins our class to share her Hanukah traditions. We make latkes and dance the horah. We learn to play dreidel too! This is part of our Holidays Around the World celebrations in the month of December. We also have a Gingerbread Man scavenger hunt in our Media Center, decorate a palm Christmas tree with ornaments from other countries and more.

Ms. Klaus just completed a unit on Robotics through her grad program with Leslie U. She shared her two bots with her 2nd grade students and then they shared them with Ms. Shields' Kindergarten class.

We just finished studying polar bears and fact vs. fiction. The students each chose a fact to write about and in this short clip they deliver their facts from behing their polar bear masks. Enjoy!

I have another wonderful class this year! Last year I began podcasting with my class in the Spring. This year I'm starting earlier but keeping it very light. I think you'll enjoy the variety of voices in this brief Thanksgiving story which will be acted out for our guests on Feast Day, Thursday November 15.

I met Congressman Price in my PJs! He visited CVES on WRAD day; a day of writing and reading all day in pjs. Students stretched out on slippery sleeping bags wearing fuzzy slippers. Favorite stuffed bears took flight and we all snuggled together to hear a stream of storytellers. Tom Price must have been surprised to see how the students were able to shift gears and demonstrate a typical reading center rotation using technology in the midst of mayhem.

Hope for the future! Student 5th grade promotion ceremony yields top notch speeches. These students use words to uplift and inspire. They are millenials, digital natives and future leaders.

What do kids say about Field Day? They love it! Listen to what my Kindergarten students wrote and read about their first Creek View Field Day experience. Recording student voices induces motivation to write!

Elementary students are so genuine, enjoy what they have to say! This is my first attempt at podcasting and I want to thank podOmatic for creating this wonderful resource and creative outlet for myself and my students.